They say "don't mess with Texas." Given the Lone Star State keeps the U.S. employment picture afloat that makes sense, but Texas seems to be doing a good job of messing with itself.

The data just released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Texas, with 46,000 jobs added in July, is once again the top state in the nation when it comes to job creation.

Texas was also the No. 1 job creator in three other months of 2014 and in June ranked second behind Florida. Over the past 12 months, the 396,200 jobs created in Texas also rank it the best in the land, according to federal statistics.

And don't buy stock in one of the talking points bewildered liberals offer about the booming economy in such a stalwart conservative state: Texas has seen job creation across all major industry groups, including high paying jobs in the energy and technology sectors.

In other words, they are doing something right in Texas.

It's unfortunate the rest of the country doesn't mimic the Texas mentality of keeping government interference - whether through regulation or taxes - to a minimum, but it's fortunate for the rest of the country Texas follows its path.

Without Texas (which this year hit a 5-year low in unemployment) leading the way, the so-called recovery under President Obama would be even more anemic than it has been.

Nevertheless, the Texas success story doesn't sit well with the state's Democrats, for the present largely concentrated in the wealthy enclaves of Austin, and they have set their sights on Republican Gov. Rick Perry. That Perry is known to harbor dreams of the presidency just makes him a juicier target.

One would think, however, the Democrats could develop a better game plan than one reliant on a transparently bogus indictment handed down from a district attorney's office notorious for prosecutorial overreach when it comes to elected GOP officials.

The best they've got has been ridiculed left and right, with only the true believers nursing some misguided dream Perry broke the law.

Those true believers are being fed a concocted story to keep the faith alive. What's happening is similar to the strategy employed by the liar Joe Wilson and his allies, who hoodwinked much of the press and the nation into thinking sinister forces within the George W. Bush administration outed his wife as a covert CIA agent.

Essentially, the story is that Perry, in addition to wounding a political rival (Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg), wanted to derail an investigation that might have targeted some of his appointees.

The phony Democratic spin started at the top, and was dutifully picked up by the party's media soldiers.

Mo Elleithee, who heads communications for the Democratic National Committee, got the ball rolling with a Monday e-mail, and The Huffington Post then elaborated in a widely shared story.

The problem with the story, as The Austin American-Statesman pointed out, is that Perry's appointees were never targets and his veto didn't impact that investigation.

Like any governor, who must be an adroit player in an often nasty game, Perry is no babe in the woods. But he's done a good job as governor in Texas, and its his record, not his attackers' tactics, others should try to replicate.